Nut-cracking machine



Aug. 30, 1938. J. MEYER NUT CRACKING MACHINE Filed Oct. 21, 1935 aShets-Sheet 1 I //v var/a. J MEYER ATTORNEY Aug. 30, 1938.

L. J. MEYER NUT CRACKING MACHINE Filed Oct. 21, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 hwm Wyn/[#7010 150 J! Mfrs/a w wm h J. MEYER 2,128,874

NUT CRACKING MACHINE Filed Oct. 21, 1955 s Sheets-Sheet :5

Aug. 30,- 1938.

bR W E ga 9m bw Patented Aug. 30, 1938 UNITED ems r or ies NUT-CRACKENGMACHINE Application October 21, 1935, Serial No. 45,875

4 Claims.

This invention relates generally to nut-cracking machines, and moreparticularly to a nutcracking machine which is capable of crackingedible nuts of varying sizes in a simple and effective manner, withoutdanger of mashing the kernels of the nuts, the predominant object of theinvention being to provide an improved nutcracking machine of this typewhich includes means arranged for continual rotary motion duringoperation of the machine which receives and supports the nuts duringnut-cracking operations of the machine.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved nutcracking machine.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the machine with parts thereof shown insection. v

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the end of the machine opposite to the endillustrated in Fig. 2 and with parts of the machine shown in section.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken longitudinally through themachine on line i-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary, sectional View taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 3,illustrating the means for conveying nuts from the hopper of the machineto the nut-cracking means thereof.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary, sectional View of the compensatingmechanism of the machine which serves to insure application of uniformnut-cracking force to nuts of varying sizes.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary, enlarged View showing one of the nut-receivingelements associated with the endless chain of the nut-feeding mechanismof. the machine.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 7.

In the drawings, wherein is shown for the purpose of illustration,merely, one embodiment of the invention, A designates the improvednutcracking machine generally. The machine A includes a frame or bed Iwhich is supported upon suitable legs 2, and this frame or bed supportsthe various parts of the machine which will be hereinafter described.Extended transversely of the bed. of the machine A adjacent to an endthereof is a main shaft 3 which is mounted in bearings 4 (Fig. 2) thatare supported by the bed of the machine, said main shaft having fixedlymounted thereon a gear wheel 5. The gear wheel 5 has arranged in meshtherewith a pinion 6 which is mounted on a shaft 1, said shaft 1 beingsupported for rotation in a bearing 8 extended transversely of themachine above the bed thereof. Also mounted on the shaft 1 is pulley 9,over which a power transmission belt iii operates, this belt operatingalso over a smaller pulley H mounted on the power'shaft l2 of anelectric motor l3. The electric motor I3 is supported by suitablebracket means M, which in turn is secured to a structure It of whichthe. bearing 8 forms a part, the structure l5 being secured to andextended upwardly from the bed i of the machine. It is obvious thatrotary movement will be transmitted from the pulley l l to the pulley 9by the belt In so as to rotate the shaft l and thereby transmit rotarymotion to the main shaft 3 of the machine through the pinion 6 and thegear wheel 5.

Fixedly mounted on the main shaft 3 of the machine A is a worm It (Figs;1 and 2), with which a worm wheel H is arranged in mesh. The worm wheelH is mounted on a shaft l8 which extends longitudinally of the machine,said shaft it being mounted for rotation in bearings I9. At the end ofthe shaft l8 opposite to the end thereof at which the Worm wheel l! isarranged, a rotary nut-receiving member 2|] is fixed to said shaft forrotary movement therewith. The rotary nut-receiving member comprises abody portion 2!, which is fixed to the shaft [8 by means of a key M orotherwise, and an outer portion 22,

which is secured to the body portion by bolts 23 which extend throughcircular apertures formed through the body portion v.2! and arcuateslots 24 formed in the outer portion 22 so as to permit adjustment ofthe outer portion 22 about the shaft l8 and with respect to the bodyportion 2!. The outer portion 22 of the nut-receiving member 2d includesoutwardly extended and circumferentially spaced portions 25 (Fig. 3),each of which includes a nut-receiving pocket 26. It is important tonote that the nut-receiving pockets 26 are not parallel with respect tothe axis of the shaft it, but instead said pockets are extendedlongitudinally at a slight angle relative to the axis of said shaft l8.This is shown most. clearly in Figs. 1, 3, and 4.

' The improved nut-cracking machine includes a hopper which receivesnuts to be cracked by the machine, said hopper including a tapered upperportion 2'? which communicates with a lower hopper portion 28 which hasan inclined lower wall 28', and this lower hopper portion 28communicates in turn with a hopper portion 29 arranged at one side ofthe lower hop-per portion 28. By referring particularly to Figs. 1 and5, it will be noted that the hopper portion 29 is provided with aninclined wall 29 which merges into a curved portion 30 which is open atits outer end. Also, the views mentioned show that the hopper portion 29is provided with an upwardly inclined end wall 3!, which is provided atits top with a horizontal portion 3| and at its bottom with a portion 3iwhich is extended at a slight angle with respect to said end wall. Anendless conveyor 32 is arranged at the end wall I of the hopper portion29, said endless conveyor comprising upper and lower sprocket wheels 33,over which operates a sprocket chain 34 which is provided with spacednut-receiving elements 35. It is to be noted that one flight of theendless sprocket chain 34 of the conveyor 32 moves upwardly within thehopper portion 29 in contact with the inner face of the end wall 3|thereof, and that the other flight of said endless chain movesdownwardly in a position outside of said hopper portion (see Fig. 5).The upper sprocket wheel 33 of the endless conveyor is mounted on ashaft 33 which is supported in bearings mounted on the horizontalportion 3W of the end wall of the hopper portion 29, and the lowersprocket wheel 33 of said conveyor is mounted on a shaft 33 which issupported in bearings fixed to the bed of the 'machine. The chain 34 ofthe conveyor 32 receives its movement through the instrumentality of asprocket chain 34* which operates over sprocket wheels 34* and 34mounted on the shafts'3 and 33, respectively (Fig. 1).

Each of the nut-receiving elements 35 comprises a pair of spaced,plate-like elements 36 shaped in side elevation as shown to the bestadvantage in Fig. 8, and the pair of associated plates providing eachnut-receiving element constitutes a link in the endless chain 32, beingconnected to adjacent links of the chain by the usual pins or rivets.The pair of plates 35 providing each nut-receiving element includeextended portions 31, which project outwardly beyond the chain proper,and at the tops and bottoms of these extended plate portions outwardlyflared portions 31' are provided. These outwardly flared portions 31provide nut-receiving pockets. As is apparent in Fig. 7, thenut-receiving pocket at the top of the nut-receiving element is largerthan'the nut-receiving pocket at the bottom thereof. Thus when largernuts are being cracked by the machine the chain 35'will be arrangedso'that the larger nut-receiving pockets are uppermost as thenut-receiving elements 35 pass upwardly through the hopper, and whensmaller nuts are being cracked the chain will be arranged so that thesmaller nut-receiving pockets are the uppermost, effective nut-receivingpockets. 7 V

The rotary nut-receiving member 20 is disposed within a housing GE)which includes an upper, inclined wall ll and a lower, discharge chute12. In the operation of the machine, the uppermostnut-receivingpocket ofeach nut-receiving element 35 picks up a nut as said nut-receivingelement passes upwardly through the hopper, wherein a store of nuts ismaintained. As each nutreceiving element 3? passes over the uppersprocket wheel 33, the nut is discharged therefrom onto the inclinedwall 4!, said. nut sliding down'said wall into the main portion of thehousing M! of the rotary nut-receiving member 20, Where said nut isreceived by a pocket 26 of said nut-receiving member. -The nut-receivingmember 26 is constantly rotated during operation of the machine, and thenut so deposited in a pocket thereof is carried around by thenut-receiving member, said nut being cracked during its travel with thenut-receiving member in a manner to be hereinafter explained, and beingthereafter discharged in a cracked condition from the chute 42. It willbe noted that the curved portion 30 at the bottom of the hopper 29 isprovided with an extension 43 (Fig. 5) This extension prevents the nutsfrom falling from the open lower end of the hopper, and the plates 36 ofthe nut-receiving elements 35 straddle said extensions when passingsame, or pass at opposite sides thereof.

The improved nut-cracking machine disclosed herein includes acompensating mechanism which provides for the same cracking pressurebeing applied to various nuts, even though they are of different sizes.This mechanism is best shown in Figs. 4 and 6, wherein the compensatingmech- ,anism is designated by the reference character 45. Thecompensating mechanism comprises a movable die 46, which is'movabletoward and from a fixed die 41', said fixed die being supported by aportion 48 associated with the bed of themachine. The dies 66 and areprovided with cavities 49 formed in their nut-contacting'faces.

The movable die is associated with a rack 50 which is guided forreciprocatory movement within a carriage or box-like structure 5!, thisboxlike structure comprising a body portion 52 and a cover plate 53. Byreferring to Fig. 4 it will be noted that the bottom wall of the bodyportion 52 of the box-like structure 5| is thicker at its forward endthan at its rearward end, a shoulder 54 being present at the point wherethe thicker and thinner portions of said bottom wall meet. Mounted forreciprocating movement within the rear'portion of the box-like structure5i is an element 55 which is provided witha wall portion 56, whichextends to the lower face of the cover plate 53 of said box-likestructure. A pin 5'! extends forwardly from said wall portion into acavity 53 formed in the body portion of the rack 50, and a coil spring59 which encircles said pin contacts at its opposite ends with theforward face of the wall portion 56 and the face at the inner end of thecavity 58 formed in the rack 56. This coil spring tends to move the rack55 and the associated die 46 in a forward direction, a plate 60 which issecured to the forward face of the body portion 52 of the box-likestructure 5! serving as a stop with which a shoulder 55' at the forwardend of the rack contacts to limit forward movement of the rack and die45 with respect to the box-like structure 5!, in response to pressure ofthe coil spring 59. V

Mounted on a shaft 6! supported by the bottom wall and cover plate ofthe box-like structure is a pinion 52 which meshes with the teeth of therack 50, this pinion having associated with it a disk 63 which isprovided with a toothed or roughened peripheral surface. The pinionandthe disk rotates as a unit, and the element 55 is provided with acurved face 64 having a toothed or rough ened face. Also the element 55is connected to a disk 55 mounted on the main shaft 3 of the machine bya link 85, which is pivotally attached at 6'! to the disk'65 and at 68to the element 55 (Fig. 4). The element 55 has extended. downwardly fromthe bottom wall thereof a lug G9 which passes through an elongatedopening 'lllformed in the bottom wall of the box-like structure 5!. Thislug is engaged by an end of a plunger H supported by the portion 12associated with the bottom wall of the box-like structure, and saidplunger H is urged toward said lug by a coil spring 73 housed withinsaidportion 12.

The forward portion of the bed of the machine supports a screw-threadedelement 14 (Fig. 6), which is alined longitudinally of the machine withan opening l5 formed in the body portion of the box-like structure 5iand with an opening 76 of smaller diameter which is formed in the plate50. Arranged within the opening 15 is a disk 11 from which a pin 18 isextended, said disk being engaged by one end of a coil spring 19 whichcontacts at its opposite end with the inner end wall of the opening 15.The coil spring 19 surrounds the pin 18 and said coil spring forces thedisk T! into close contact with the portion of the inner face of theplate which surrounds the opening 76 formed therein.

In the operation of the machine, the nuts to be cracked are carriedaround in the pockets 28 of the constantly rotating element 28 in thedirection of the arrow in Fig. 3 to the position C of the dies 46 and4?. As each pocket 26 of the element 20 approaches the cracking positionC, the machine is so timed that the compensating mechanism movesforwardly as a unit until the forward end of the movable die 46 contactswith the nut carried within the pocket and moves said nut into contactalso with the fixed die M, the inclined arrangement of the pocketspermitting the die 46 to move into said pockets while the member 29 isrotating. ,Theposition of the nut between the dies i6 and 41 arrestsfurther forward movement of the movable die 46, but the box-likestructure 5! and the element 55 continue their forward movement inresponse to rotary movement of the disk 65. During such forward movementof the box-like structure 5! and the element 55 with respect to the rack50 the coil spring 59 is compressed, and also because the pinion 62 ismoved longitudinally of the teeth of the rack this pinion and the disk63 associated therewith are rotated. When the box-like structure hasmoved the proper distance in a forward direction, the end portion of thescrew-threaded element 14 (Fig. 6) will enter the opening 16 in theplate 60 to contact with the disk H, whereby the coil spring 19 willarrest further forward movement of the box-like structure.

At this time the element 55 has not quite reached the forward limit ofits movement, and therefore said element 55 continues to move forwardly.This additional movement brings the toothed face 64 into contact withthe toothed peripheral face of the disk 63 so as to arrest furtherrotation of the pinion 62 and lock the pinion and the rack together, sothat theyare incapable of further relative movement. This happens justbefore the element 55 reaches the limit of its forward movement, and assaid element 55 continues its forward movement after contact of theface- "54 with the peripheral face of the disk 63, the element 55, thebox-like structure, and the rack 50 and die 46 are locked together, andall of said parts move forwardly as a unit. This additional movementgives to the die 46 the necessary forward movement to crack the nutwithout crushing the kernel thereof. It is to be observed that Whileforward movement of the box-like structure 5| is arrested by thescrew-threaded element M, the coil spring 79 permits said box-likestructure to move forwardly the required additional distance to crackthe nut. I

When the nut has been cracked as described, the compensating mechanism45 is moved rearwardly in response to movement of the disk 65 and thelink 66, and at this time the coil spring 13 separates the face E i fromthe peripheral face of the disk 63. The nut-carrying element 2|]duringthis time is rotating, and eventually the compensating mechanismwill again move forwardly to enable the die 46 to engage the nut in thenext pocket of the element 20 as it approaches the cracking position C,the compensating operation and the cracking operation being performed aseach successive pocket of the element 2% approaches and reaches thenut-cracking position.

The extensions 2'5 of the nut-receiving member 20 at their oppositesides are provided with recesses 80 and 8|, the recesses at each side ofsaid member being arranged in circular formation concentric with respectto the shaft Hi. The opposite walls of the housing M of the member 20are provided with curved extensions 82 and 83, which are received by therecesses 89 and 86 as the member 28 rotates. These curved extensionsserve to guide the nuts to their proper positions in the pockets 26 ofthe member 20, and also said extensions act to dislodge any nuts whichmay become jammed in said pockets. If desired, the extension '82 may beprovided with a toothed or serrated edge which causes the nuts to beagitated, so that positioning of the nuts will be aided and stickingthereof prevented. It will be noted that the extension 83 is providedwith an inclined face 83', which serves to cam the nuts to the centersof the pockets as the nut-receiving member rotates with respect to saidextension. Also the portions 25 of the nut-receiving member 20 areprovided with depressions 25 which aid in centering the nuts in thepockets. It is important to note that when a nut is engaged between thecracking dies of the machine, its movement with the constantly rotatingnutreceiving member 20 is arrested, and the pocket of said nut-receivingmember in which the nut was carried moves away from the arrested nut.Thus, when the actual cracking of the nut takes place, it is entirelyspaced apart from the pocket of the nut-receiving member in which it wascarriedto the cracking position, and therefore the nut is free fromcontact with any parts of the machine which might tend to interfere withcomplete cracking of the shell of the nut.

I claim:

1. A nut-cracking machine comprising a substantially circular membermounted for rotary movement and provided with nut-receiving pocketsspaced circumferentially thereof, said nut-receiving pockets being openat their opposite ends at opposite sides of said member and each pocketbeing open longitudinally of its length at a side thereof to permitintroduction of nuts into said pocket, means for imparting constantrotary movement to said member, means for delivering nuts to the pocketsof said member, and nutcracking means for cracking nuts carried by thepockets of said member, said nut-cracking means including a pair ofalined and spaced apart cracking elements between which the pocketedcircumferential portion of said member rotates, and means for subjectingone of said cracking elements to reciprocatory movement toward and fromthe associated cracking element and into and out of the pockets of saidmember as said pockets successively move into operative position withrespect to said cracking elements and while said pockets are in movementso as to crack between said cracking elements the nuts carried by saidpockets, the axis of each pocket being extended at an angle with respectto the axis of said reciprocatory cracking element when each pocket isin cooperative relation with respect to said reciprocatory crackingelement so as to perinto the pocket while said member of which thepocket forms a part is in constant rotary motion.

2. A nut-cracking machine comprising a substantially circular membermounted for rotary movement and provided with nut-receiving pocketsspaced circumferentially thereof, said nutreceiving pockets being openat their opposite ends at opposite sides of said member and each pocketbeing, open longitudinally of its length at a side thereof to permitintroduction of nuts into said pockets, means for imparting constantrotary movement to said member, means for delivering nuts to the pocketsof said member, nut-cracking means for cracking nuts carried by thepockets of said member, said nut-cracking means including a pair ofalined and spaced apart cracking elements between which the pocketedcircumferential portion of said member rotates, and means for subjectingone of said cracking elements to reciprocatory movement toward and fromthe associated cracking element and into and out of the pockets of saidmember as said pockets successively move into operative position withrespect to said cracking elements and while said pockets are in movementso as to crack berwc: said cracking elements the nuts carried by saidpockets, and means for dislodging nuts from the pockets of said memberafter said nuts have been cracked.

3. A nut-cracking machine comprising a substantially circular membermounted for rotary movement and provided with nut-receiving pocketsspaced circumferentially thereof, said nutreceiving pockets being openat their opposite ends at opposite sides of said member and each pocketbeing open longitudinally of its length at a side thereof to permitintroduction of nuts into said pockets, means for imparting constantrotary movement to said member, means for delivering nuts to the pocketsof said member, and nutcracking means for cracking nuts carried by thepockets of said member, said nut-cracking means including a pair ofalined and spaced apart cracking elements between which the pocketedcircumferential portion of said member rotates, one of said crackingelements being fixed in a stationary position and the other of saidcracking elements being supported for reciprocatory movement, means forsubjecting said reciprocatory cracking element to reciprocatory movementtoward and from the stationary cracking element and into and out of thepockets of said member as said pockets successively move into operativeposition with respect to said cracking elements and while said pocketsare in movement so as to crack between said cracking elements the nutsmit said reciprocatory cracking element to move carried by said pockets,the axis of each pocket being extended at an angle with respect to theaxis of said reciprocatory cracking element when each pocket is incooperative relation with respect to said recip rocatory crackingelement so as to permit said reciprocatory cracking element to move'intothe pocket while said member of which the pocket forms a part is inconstant motion, and means cooperatively associated with saidreciprocatory cracking element for compensating for nuts of differentlengths so that a fixed amount of cracking movement is applied to eachnut being cracked regardless of the length of the nut.

4. A nut-cracking machine comprising a substantially circular membermounted for rotary movement and provided with nut-receiving pocketsspaced circumferentially thereof, said nutreceiving pockets being openat their opposite ends at opposite sides of said member and each pocketbeing open longitudinally of its length at a side thereof to permitintroduction of nuts into said pockets, means for imparting constantrotary movement to said member, means for delivering nuts to the pocketsof said member, and nutcracking means for cracking nuts carried by thepockets of said member, said nut-cracking means including a pair of,alined and spaced apart cracking elements between which the pocketedcircumferential portion of said member rotates, one of said crackingelements being fixed ina stationary position and the other of saidcracking elements being supported for reciprocatory movement, means forsubjecting said reciprocatory cracking element to reciprocatory movementtoward and from the stationary cracking element and into and out of thepockets of said member as said pockets successively move into operativeposition with respect to saidcracking elements and while said pocketsare in movement so as to crack between said cracking elements the nutscarried by said pockets, the axis of each pocket being extended at anangle with respect to the axis of said reciprocato-ry cracking elementwhen each pocket is in cooperative relation with respect to saidreciprocatory cracking element so as to permit said reciprocatorycracking element to move into the pocket while said member of which thepocket forms a part is in constant motion, means cooperativelyassociated with said reciprocatory cracking element for compensating fornuts of different lengths so that a fixed amount of cracking movement isapplied to each nut being cracked regardless of the length of the nut,and means for dislodging nuts from the pockets of said member after saidnuts have been cracked.

, LEO J. MEYER.

